9. Maretime Bay Zone: Act 3
"Why didn't it work, Daddy?"
"'Cause it was all just make-believe."
The words continuously echoed in Sunny's head, leaving a hollow feeling inside her. She was so sure that bringing the crystals together would bring magic back to their world. When it didn't return, everypony gathered was stunned, then disappointed when their efforts proved to be a wild goose chase.
On the way back to Maretime Bay, Sunny felt like she was a failure for failing to fulfill her father's dream and the false hope that forgiving others would bring magic back. But she felt the worst for failing Sonic, to whom she promised she would help get him back home.
They were all promises that she ultimately could not hold.
Hitch, who had caught up to her after leaving the others in the forest, wanted to say something. However, nothing came to him since everything his friend believed in and held was falling apart around her, and nothing he could say would change that.
While they didn't speak, they could appreciate the sun slipping below the horizon, or at least they would, had the skies not been darkened by gray clouds. Once they reached the crest in the road that led back down towards Maretime Bay, the pair split at the fork in the road, and Sunny ambled towards her home.
"I'm right here if you need to talk, Sunny," Hitch assured. Sunny stopped and faced him but didn't say anything. Her defeated expression spoke volumes as she turned away, resuming her walk back home.
Hitch sighed in defeat and turned towards Maretime Bay, hoping to Faust above that Sprout didn't cause any trouble in town.
Meanwhile, Sunny entered her lighthouse, not bothering to fix the photo as the door shut behind her. She sat on the windowsill in her room, staring out at the sea for what felt like hours. After what was really a few minutes, she sighed and decided to pack up all of her old toys and any artifacts or memories of ancient Equestria that she and her father had worked on together. It broke her heart as she carefully put her mementos away in a little box, as they were all she had left of her dad. She then looked at a nightlight on the shelf next to her bed, and the memory of her dad giving it to her slowly played out...
"Can you tell me the story?" A young Sunny asked, holding the covers of her bed close.
"Again?" Her father laughed incredulously.
"Pleeeeease?"
Unable to resist his daughter's plea and childish charm, Sunny's father complied and told the story. "Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, in ancient Equestria, there lived a very special––"
"Unicorn!" Sunny finished.
"The unicorn was very bright..."
"As bright as the sun."
"One day, the princess summoned her to the castle for an important assignment..."
"To learn about friendship!"
"Mm-hmm. She soon made lots of new friends."
"Earth ponies, Pegasuses, and Unicorns!"
"Together, they showed everypony the Magic of Friendship and how to live in harmony," Her father ended the story and held up a night light resembling a carousel, with images of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies attached to the outside.
"Wow! You finished it!" Sunny marveled.
"Pretty neat, huh?" Setting it on the nightstand next to her bed, Argyle turned the night light on, enchanting his daughter as the light shone around the moving pictures to create silhouettes of ponies on the walls. "Earth ponies watched in wonder as Pegasi painted rainbows across the sky. The nights were lit up by a hundred unicorn horns."
"It's beautiful!" Sunny marveled before letting out a tired yawn. "I wish I had a friend who could fly around or float things. Why can't we be friends anymore?"
"That, my darling, is a big question..." Argyle frowned sadly before smiling again. "And maybe one day, we'll figure it out. Together. We'll do our part..."
"...hoof to heart," Father and daughter said together.
"Goodnight, Daddy," Sunny yawns, snuggling into the covers.
"Goodnight, my little pony," Argyle replied, softly kissing her forehead. With that, he took his leave, slowly closing the door to Sunny's room behind him.
"Goodnight, friends," Sunny said to her dolls, finally falling asleep.
Sunny smiled a little, remembering that beloved memory of her father. But her smile faded, remembering she failed in her father's mission to return magic. Although it hurt her, the poor mare put the night light her father made in the box, believing there was no reason to keep it after what happened.
Sunny's heartache intensified when she went upstairs. Setting the box near the center of the room, she moved dejectedly around, pulling one or two things down before moving to another. As she pulled a drawing away from the pedestal holding the lighthouse bulb, a symbol underneath it caught her eye.
Moving the other papers away, she saw what looked to be the unicorn and pegasus crystals together, but the same hole in the middle seemed… filled.
Conveniently, a shaft of sunlight entered the room and hit the top of the night light, reflecting into the lighthouse bulb before spreading around the room. Sunny looked up to see herself surrounded by unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies all around the room.
As the light show slowly faded, she followed the light until she found the lamp she placed in the little box earlier. In the lamp was a crystal her father had installed, and she took the crystal out of mere curiosity when she suddenly felt an epiphany. Placing the crystal in the center of the symbol, a weighted mechanism rattled to life. The circle sunk into the table, the crystal falling into a perfect fit before the other two parts sunk around it.
Sunny couldn't describe her overwhelming happiness as her heart beat faster and faster. She finally understood why magic didn’t come back; there was a missing piece.
In her excitement, Sunny forgot to grab the crystal and raced downstairs, grabbed her saddlebag, and ran out of the lighthouse toward town. But when she reached town, she noticed something… off.
Everything was a mess; garbage was strewn everywhere, tables and chairs were knocked over, even a few carts on their sides, and a trolley pulled off the tracks. It was as if a stampede had gone through. What worried Sunny more was that she couldn’t see anypony anywhere. But her worries were silenced as a voice called out to her.
"Sunny!"
Rushing out of the sheriff's station was Hitch, and a bright smile overtook the mare's face.
"Hitch... Hitch!" She exclaimed, rushing over to her friend. "I figured it out; there's actually a third...!"
*BANG*
*BANG-BANG BANG*
The two Earth ponies turned to look toward where the explosions had come from. They were fireworks from the Canterlogic factory, confusing them as there wasn't anything important going on like Maretime Bay Day. Both ponies looked at each other worriedly and rushed toward the factory, but on the way, they ran into something they didn't think they would ever see.
Earth ponies of Maretime Bay marched like soldiers toward the factory entrance, each wearing anti-unicorn hats to prevent their minds from being read. That only made Sunny and Hitch look at each other even more confused.
"Hey! W-Wait!" Hitch called, garnering the attention of one stallion in the back. "W-What is going on here?"
"We can't tell you!" He replied, stopping momentarily before catching up with the rest. "We signed the official Sprout debt!"
"The official Sprout what?!" Hitch and Sunny look at each other, confused and worried, before following the marching group.
Meanwhile, Sonic, Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy have made good progress to Maretime Bay, but they were unaware of the Alpabittle, Queen Haven, and a few of their own following close behind. Soon, the hedgehog and mares noticed the lighthouse Sunny lived in off in the distance, getting bigger and bigger with every step they took.
"We're getting close!" Sonic exclaimed, putting on more speed. Before anypony could reply, loud bangs rang out over Maretime Bay, forcing them to slam on the brakes. The group looked up to see several fireworks crackling in the air,
"Fireworks?" Zipp asked.
"Oh, they're giving us a welcome party to Maretime Bay!" Izzy smiled. "Sunny must have known we were coming!"
Sonic, however, was not entirely convinced. "I've been to many homecoming parties, and I know very well that those fireworks aren’t a homecoming party for us," He said, narrowing his eyes. "Something's wrong... we need to find Sunny and Hitch. I've got a bad feeling trouble is right around the corner..."
They walked the rest of the way to the lighthouse, mainly to catch their breath, but Sonic looked back and noticed two figures running up the hill toward them. He squinted to get a better look and discovered it was Sunny and Hitch, who seemed to be running from something, or somepony.
"Sunny!" Izzy shouted before rushing to meet them halfway, the others following suit.
"What are you guys doing here?!" Sunny asked, she and Hitch stopping halfway up the hill.
"We don't care what anypony says!" Izzy exclaimed.
"Yeah! We just wanna stay friends!" Zipp agrees while Pipp nods.
"And I think I figured out what went wrong with the Crystals!" Sonic exclaimed. "Oh yeah, I'm still here, and I'm glad I'm not leaving anytime soon!"
"What do you find?" Hitch asked.
"There's a third crystal!" Sunny and Sonic said in unison. They both looked surprised but then smiled, pointed at each other, and said, "Ha, Jinx!" in unison again.
"Say what now?!” Hitch exclaimed with confusion.
But his confusion rose even further when Queen Haven and Alphabittle arrived,
"Pipp! Zipp!" Haven shouted as she galloped towards the group. "I know you're upset, darlings, my sweet little darlings, but it's time to go home now!"
"Izzy Moonbow!" Alphabittle barked. "You're gonna get us all jinxed!"
"Excuse me?!" Haven huffed to Alphabittle. "Do you see my mouth still moving? That means I'm still a-talking!"
"For the love of Chaos... Just get a room already!" Sonic yelled.
"You're all in danger!" Sunny interrupted.
"What?!” Haven and Alphabittle exclaimed.
A loud horn sounded in the air, catching the attention of everyone as they turned to look at the base of the hill. Driving out of a smoke cloud was a giant robot in the shape of an earth pony, specifically Sprout. Marching alongside the mechanical giant was an army of Earth ponies, wearing hats that supposedly prevented their minds from being read.
"Now THIS, this is the same as at home!" Sonic said with a strange smile, even for him. "A giant robot in the shape of its creator? Finally, something as crazy as my life!"
"Would you look at this? Our enemies delivered themselves to us!" Sprout announced.
"No, no, no! We're not here to fight, Mr. Big Robot Pony!" Haven explained, trying to calm the tension, but Sprout ignored her.
"I do not accept your surrender! Load the Splat-a-pults!" He demanded. However, the Earth Ponies ran away in fear, which made him groan as he activated them himself. "Why do I have to do everything myself?!"
"We have to stop that thing!" Zipp declared.
"But how?" Izzy asked.
"With magic!" Sunny said, then ran towards Alphabittle and Haven. "Quick! I need your crystals!" Both exchanged looks before deciding they had nothing to lose. Without any argument, they gave Sunny their crystals, and she turned to her friends. "C'mon! Let's go!"
"Oh no, you don't!" Sprout exclaimed, moving the massive machine toward the lighthouse. Sonic noticed this and stopped abruptly before facing the robot with a frown.
"Sonic!" Pipp cried out.
"You go and find the earth pony crystal!" he ordered. "I'm gonna..."
"Actually, the earth pony crystal is in the lighthouse!" Sunny interrupted. "My father had it on the lamp he made me years ago!"
Sonic looked at her and blinked a few times. "Ok, that's incredibly convenient, but I ain't complaining because it's a great help to us. You go get some magic back; I'll teach this guy a lesson he'll never forget!" They nodded and ran back to the lighthouse while Sonic stood before the machine.
"Hey, freak!" He shouted, stopping his robot a few meters from Sonic. "Get out of my way!"
"You know, for a temporary guy in charge, you've done a terrible job as a sheriff!" Sonic shouted. But instead of a playful banter, his voice held a serious edge. "Now, do you want to turn that stupid machine of yours off before it hurts someone, or do you want a blue hedgehog from another dimension to kick your ass?"
"You think I'm afraid of you?!" Sprout yelled back. "I won't let magic come back, and if I have to destroy the lighthouse, I will do it!"
"So kicking your ass, it is," Sonic smirked, staring straight at Sprout, who glared back in anger. "I'm glad you chose the hard way 'cause I have something really cool I wanna try out, and you're gonna be the guinea pig!"
Sprout growled a little and started to push some buttons on his machine. Sonic, on the other hand (or hoof, whichever you prefer), positioned himself to run. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the power inside of him, and he felt it gradually crackle through his body. He opened his eyes and looked at Sprout again, who was already moving the machine towards him. But Sonic smiled as his quills lit up, neon blue electricity dancing off and around his body. But instead of it uncontrollably flying around, this time, he had it under control.
“Gotta go fast!" Sonic said confidently, and his eyes turned from green to neon blue.
Not wasting any more time, Sonic charged at Sprout. The first thing the hedgehog did was tease him a bit, and he slipped under the machine, not even touching it. This confused Sprout, and he turned the robot around to charge at Sonic. The hedgehog charged at Sprout again, jumping in the air and quickly charging up a Homing Attack, unleashing shortly after at the machine and knocking it back. Usually, this attack was powerful on its own, but thanks to Sonic's new power, it was twice as powerful.
"Ooh, I should take advantage of this!" Sonic told himself with a smile. He revved his Spin Dash and launched at the machine, denting the metal. But Sonic didn't stop there: He kept going, faster and faster, before the electric trails accumulated into a single star of neon light. After hitting the machine for what might have been the hundredth time, Sonic ceased his assault, believing to have dealt more than enough damage to incapacitate the machine. The hedgehog slid to a stop before the lighthouse with a victorious smile, but as he looked up, the robot recomposed itself faster than Sonic expected and charged at the lighthouse.
"That usually worked out with Eggman..." Sonic gawked, his eyes turning green again as his newfound power faded. "Then again, this guy's... not... Eggman... oh, we're scre––! Holy chilidogs!"
He lept back as the machine he saw the robot charging towards him, then ran into the lighthouse and yelled from downstairs. "I don't know what you're doing up there, but hurry up! Sprout's getting real close to the lighthouse!"
Hitch and Zipp were the only ones to hear Sonic, and they quickly rushed downstairs to help him. The three ran towards the machine, and Zipp climbed up to one of the Splat-a-pults. Sonic gave Hitch a boost to get him up too, and the two ponies tried to remove a screw that held a Splat-a-pult to the side. Sonic hopped to the other side and did the same with the other Splat-a-pult, but when Hitch and Zipp removed the screw, the Splat-a-pult went flying and crashed into the lighthouse.
"Okay! That was a bad idea!" Hitch yelled with slight fear.
"What was a bad idea, exactly?!" Sonic called, having not seen what happened. As he removed the screw from the other one, one of the blades caught his foot and sent him flying into the lighthouse. His head bounced off one of the walls, then hit some rubble before falling flat on his face on the ground.
"...Ouch..."
Meanwhile, Sunny, Izzy, and Pipp had gone up to the second floor to set up the crystals. But such a simple task was made incredibly difficult as the fight between Sprout and their friends caused the machine to crash into the lighthouse on certain occasions, causing them to drop the crystals several times. And when it seemed they already had everything and were about to unite them, another attack slammed into the house and separated them again.
Back outside, Sonic slowly got up, brushing the dust off his head and body. Seeing that nothing worked, he decided to play his last card, one that rarely worked, but he had to try at least. Sonic revved his Spin Dash and launched himself up to the window Sprout sat behind. He landed on the 'snout' and caught hold of the machine's roof to face the earth pony.
"Let me tell you something, Sprout. When I first arrived, I thought you were an inept who cowered at anything and everything. How I hate being wrong about you... in the end, you ended up being something that everyone, your earth pony friends included, detest with their soul," Said Sonic with a threatening voice.
"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Sprout asked with a smug grin. Sonic smiled victoriously, knowing what he would say next would hurt the earth pony.
"A villain," Sprout, in his shock, stopped thinking altogether. The word stuck in his mind, echoing and bouncing around, yet the hedgehog didn’t stop.
"The bad guy, the rotten seed, the bad third, call it whatever you want. You are all that, and many others that are even worse. You were given a simple job: To keep things in order. And you did an excellent job! In less than three days, you turned a bunch of citizens into soldiers with no experience or training, created an authoritarian regime out of excess power, and built a machine to eliminate beings that don't care about your existence in the least. Now you're trying to destroy private property because you fear something you never had!" Electricity shot out of Sonic’s body at the last two words.
“You have all the markings of a villain, Sprout. But do you think that's it? No, not even close. You're just a spoiled rich kid who will never live up to anyone’s expectations because he's too clumsy and cowardly to admit he wants to get on well with his "mommy". Do you want me to go on, Sprout? Because I can go on all night!"
Was Sprout hurt by everything he heard? Yes, without a doubt... but he thought that if, at this point, he had already become the villain…
"Well…" Sprout spoke up. "I've already become the bad guy, and I think there's no point in stopping now!"
Sonic's scowl changed to shocked horror as the machine roared to life. Sprout rammed into the lighthouse again, knocking Sonic, Hitch, and Zipp off the machine.
"Well, I tried…" Sonic said a bit giddily, shrugging before Hitch tackled him out of the way as a chunk of debris crashed onto the spot the hedgehog was standing in. Sonic was about to thank the sheriff before Hitch smacked the hedgehog upside the head.
"What were you trying to do, make him angrier?!" Hitch furiously yelled.
"I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, but Hitch's right, Sonic," Zipp said, joining the two. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I tried to use reverse psychology on him: I tell him the truth to his face, he feels bad and gives up... but I guess it didn't work..." Sonic said with slight embarrassment.
"No, don't tell me!" Hitch exclaimed sarcastically.
Sunny and Izzy, for their part, managed to put the crystals together, but once again, nothing happened. As they do this, Sprout rammed into the lighthouse, shattering the glass dome and showering the mares in glass shards. They found their sense of balance disappear, and they grabbed onto the shattered balcony to keep from falling. Determined to take the lighthouse down, Sprout prepared to ram the lighthouse again before a voice called to him.
"Sprout! Let's put the toy away!"
Sprout turned to see his mother running up to the side of the machine, and he groans. "Mommy, please! I'm in the middle of something!"
"You come down from there right now!" She demanded.
"But, Mommy... I'm. In. CHAAAAARGE!" Sprout yelled, putting his machine at full throttle. But Phyllis stepped in front of it, seemingly unafraid of the multi-ton machine bearing down on her.
"I...said...STOP!"
Sprout frantically turned the machine away from his mom but crashed into the lighthouse.
Hitch and Zipp immediately moved away, but Sonic noticed debris blocking the door to the lighthouse before he heard Pipp call for help. His instincts taking over, he dodged the falling debris, pushed aside the debris blocking the door, and opened it for Pipp to rush out immediately. Sonic backed away entirely as the lighthouse rapidly collapsed, but then he noticed Sunny and Izzy barely holding onto the second floor's railing.
"Alright, Sonic. It's not time for thinking; it's time for running!"
Using the falling debris as platforms to jump to the top, he reached the balcony they held onto and helped them up. But he saw how the top of the lighthouse was beginning to collapse, and he remembered the entrance was blocked again, so he only had one option left.
"Girls, I know how to get you out of here. But first, do you trust me?"
"Of course!" Sunny assured.
"The question offends!" Izzy exclaimed.
"Something tells me that after this, you won't anymore..." Sonic warned with a specific sarcastic tone.
He picked Izzy up bridal style before getting a running start and jumped. He lands a safe distance away and sets the unicorn down safely. He then rushed back to Sunny and did the same thing, but he barely made it back with the rest of their friends when the lighthouse finally collapsed into the ground, a plume of dust
After it dissipated, they couldn't help but look at Sunny's former home with pity, as it was now in pieces. Sonic sighed heavily and put Sunny down carefully while Sprout came out of her machine unscathed but silently walked toward the others in fear, especially Sonic.
"...It's not the time to make jokes, so I'll save it," Sonic said. Still looking at the house, he turned to Sunny. "What happened to the crystals?" He dared to ask, though he thought he knew the answer.
"They didn't work…" Sunny said, a bit sad, but then she smiled and looked at the rest of the ponies gathered. "But I understand now."
Sonic and the others were confused but decided to let her continue.
"It's not the crystals that need to be brought together... It's us," She started. "We can bring back everything lost, but it's up to us. We can stay separated by fear and distrust... Or, we can choose friendship... We can choose love... That's the true magic."
The ponies stared at her in surprise, but her friends looked at her with smiles because they knew she was right. They just had to hope the others understood. Sunny walked over to the broken frame with her and her father's photo in it, feeling sad as she gingerly touched the fractured glass.
But her attitude brightened as Haven walked over to her and slowly pushed the left wooden frame in place, then looked at Sunny and smiled. Alphabittle came over next, and he fixed the right frame. Last came Phyllis, who pushed the top of the frame back in place.
They all looked at each other with smiles and then gave Sunny and her friends the same treatment, making the group look at each other with hope shining brightly inside them.
No one noticed as each pony species came over and pushed a piece in; streams of light began to shine from within the rubble of the lighthouse, each varying in color. Once the leaders of each race smiled at each other, the lights intensified as the crystals from each race flew out and moved toward one unsuspecting mare - Sunny.
Thanks to Real AllBridge again for editing this chapter! 
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Now that was nicely done.
Great job and wow Sonic fighting sprout and his mech, that something and boy was it a battle sonic enjoy and hit a nerve on sprout, and now the three tribes are together but the lighthouse is destroyed but now the magic of friendship lives again and the lights of magic begins to sprout again, awesome job, keep up the great work
All in favor of Sprout either getting arrested or banished to another universe as punishment for embracing the role of the villain, along with having Kid Cudi’s Stars in the Sky serve as the song in the end credits, raise your hands and say ‘aye!’
Nice chapter
11355366
Nay, cause I can understand him since I was in the same boat as well, but I reformed myself and had realized what I've been doing all those years as a child. I will have to thank the MLP franchise that showed me the way of what could be something heinous that would change myself completely.
11355366
Aye?
That was an epic chapter!
Sonic's battle against Sprout was awesome, and he tried to talk down against him. But of course, Sprout didn't listen and knocked down Sunny's tower anyway.
Did I mention I never liked Sprout?
Fortunately, Sunny made a speech about trying to be friends with one another instead of fear and distrust. Let's hope her speech works!
Good chapter 😊, good fight 😎
Is there still a chance it could be good? 😅